The print media's construction of the 'drug problem' in Victorian newspapers: The case of North Richmond Community Health's medically supervised injecting room

Introduction The media's influence on policy has been widely documented. This study sought to investigate how Melbourne's medically supervised injecting room (MSIR) was represented in the print media. Methods A qualitative discourse analysis of Victorian print media (n = 441 items) representation of MSIR was conducted. Constructivist Grounded Theory guided the sampling strategy and coding while the discourse analysis was informed by Bacchi's approach to policy analysis, 'What's the problem represented to be?'. Print news media was gathered from Factiva and Newsbank databases from January 2016 to June 2020. Results The media's representation of the 'drug problem' of overdose was identified by a range of actors in support and opposition of the facility. In attributing the concept of 'drug use' to the 'drug problem' items most frequently suggest it is the 'choice' of the individual to inject illicit drugs. The voices of people who inject drugs (PWID) were largely silenced in the print news media and to re-conceptualise the 'drug problem' to be a 'health problem' would aid in the support for the harm reduction strategy. The research highlighted 'dividing practices' (residents vs. PWID) and the portrayal of PWID that translate to the lived effects of PWID. Discussion and Conclusions The print news media did not directly influence the establishment of the Melbourne MSIR. However, the representation of PWID in the print media must be further investigated for the successful establishment of future harm reduction strategies.

Automated summary

The study investigated the representation of Melbourne's medically supervised injecting room (MSIR) in print media, highlighting the dominance of discourse around the ‘drug problem’ of overdose. While the media often attributed ‘drug use’ to individual ‘choice’, the voices of people who inject drugs (PWID) were largely silenced. Reconceptualizing the ‘drug problem’ as a ‘health problem’ could aid in implementing harm reduction strategies successfully.